Green Infrastructure is the term used to describe the network of green spaces, landscapes and natural elements that lie within and connect our cities, towns and villages.
Maximising the potential of local green space is a key environmental issue within Southampton. Providing new local green assets and making more effective use of existing assets will help absorb pressure from new development and help to maintain the quality of the environment within the City.
Well-designed and integrated green infrastructure can deliver a range of benefits, often in combination. It can:
• Provide opportunities for exercise, such as walking, active recreation and sport, and space for spiritual well-being and quiet contemplation
• Provide areas of value for biodiversity and links to neighbouring areas
• Help to mitigate against the impacts of climate change through sustainable drainage, flood mitigation and reducing the impacts of the urban heat island effect
• Improve environmental quality, e.g. better air and water quality, local climate control and noise attenuation
• Provide community resources for learning and training
• Provide a leisure focus and attraction for people of all ages
• Help to establish local identity or sense of place
• Improve and sustain land values
Green infrastructure can be found at the different scales from, the ‘doorstep’ and neighbourhood to town through to sub-regional scales. On a development scale, it can include Green roofs which consist of plants grown on roofs and green walls.
Southampton City Council
